Light Lens Lab Elcan 50mm f2 Review

[hdmesa]

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6 hours ago, 69xchange said:

My 8e LLL at infinity mark on the rangefinder patch is also slightly misaligned, but only by a hair. I’ve, tested it and it doesn’t seem to have any issues with focus wide open close or far range. My old LLL Elcan was spot on but the focus ring wasn’t smooth when doing micro focusing.

To be honest F2 isn’t “that” shallow to notice something that very small misalignment, but maybe a lux or nocti would definitely show.

That's better than the 8E copies I tried, which had the rangefinder patch aligning at infinity well before the hard stop. I decided if I buy another one, I'll just send it straight to DAG for adjustment.

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[Greenhilltony]

On 6/10/2023 at 9:27 AM, Anthony Miller said:

My Elcan and my 8-element arrived today and I am quite impressed. Nice feel to them, smooth focus, clicky aperture and just feel well made. only had time for some quick test shots but very happy with the first results. Did not see any front or back focus issues. Wide open the Elcan had a wonderful glow but still a sharp enough image to make me happy and a very nice look that I enjoy. By f2.8 everything sharpened up nicely and the sharpness held up all the way to f16 with few signs of diffraction hurting the image.

The 8-element had a bit less glow wide open but still very nice and again sharpened up by f2.8.

Love the tiny size of these and I already feel my other 50s and 35s may not see as much use.

Glad I went with these and happy that I cancelled my Speed Panchro order and went this direction instead.

Now if they could do a Thambar clone.......

You're lucky! Both have no issues about focus. My Elcan does not focus properly, when the patches align the focus is a bit farther than expected. And when the focus ring hits hard stop, it does not reach infinity.

[Huss]

What turned me off the Elcan copy is the direction the aperture ring turns.  It goes against the direction of the exposure meter arrows in my Ms.

I know that is how the original Elcan was, but that was before Leica made metered cameras.  So, not for me.  Even though I also use meterless Ms, I like for all my lenses to operate in similar fashion so they can be used seamlessly between camera bodies.

[tsleica]

Hey Huss..

Its not a problem at all...turning the aperture ring in the opposite direction..

Like eating your tuna fish sandwich the left side 1st..then the right..or visa versa...lol..

[tsleica]

I actually find the aperture ring /knob on LLL Elcan faster to adjust and it falls perfectly to my hand and is quicker to use than my other Leica M lenses. But I can certainly underrstand why it would bug some people.

Edited June 14, 2023 by tsleica

[Greenhilltony]

My Elcan copy suffered from severe back focusing and was sent to the LLL factory for CLA. Today I got the parcel back and immediately mounted it on my M10-P. They fully corrected the lens and it produces sharp and amazing rendering images now IMO!  This shot is straight out from the DNG. I zone focused at F4. The yellow on the safety cap looks so creamy that I held my breath for seconds.

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[Anthony Miller]

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On 6/14/2023 at 3:34 AM, Al Brown said:

I disagree. If you shoot Leica a lot the "classic" aperture ring direction becomes second nature, so every anomaly is an annoying disturbance.

I had no issue with the "backwards" rotation as my other favorite 50mm, the f1.5 Summarit is also built that way. I tend the decide on and set aperture first while looking at the lens and adjust exposure with shutter speed after.

[Dbrass]

On 4/21/2023 at 12:33 PM, MCF74 said:

I finally received mine today. Unfortunately, the focus is way out so it's unusable. Close distance, very out; close to infinity, still out. I've emailed LLL. I'm upset since I've paid extra import costs to get the lens and presume now I'm on the hook to send it back at an expense (and then receive another with more import tax). 

Could you please confirm how much you had to pay import taxes etc in uk? I'm also there and want to order. would be good to have your feedback. thanks

[MCF74]

Expect to pay around 20%-25%. It's a fair bit, but I'm glad I did it as this lens is now my only lens! Still in love with it.

[MCF74]

Coincidentally, I just received an email from LLL stating the Elcan is back in stock! There's chrome, black, and brassed black available on their site. Interesting. 

[Dbrass]

4 hours ago, MCF74 said:

Coincidentally, I just received an email from LLL stating the Elcan is back in stock! There's chrome, black, and brassed black available on their site. Interesting. 

thanks for your reply and info on the taxes. Do they sell it to you -VAT?

Yes that's why im asking, I saw the restock and want to buy. I will be using this lens on an MP, how do you find the lens performs on 35mm film, ? I would buy Black paint to match the black paint MP. Do you use on digital or film and how do you find it?

I hope they send me a perfect focus version and don't need to resend repaying all the taxes etc. what a pain that would be.

[pippy]

On 8/3/2023 at 5:45 PM, Anthony Miller said:

I had no issue with the "backwards" rotation as my other favorite 50mm, the f1.5 Summarit is also built that way. I tend the decide on and set aperture first while looking at the lens and adjust exposure with shutter speed after.

Out of curiosity which 50mm f1.5 Summarit do you have? I rather suspect that the function of the aperture ring on your lens works in the same manner as almost all Leitz lenses.

The thing which is different with the 50 f1.5 Summarit is that the positions of aperture scale and aperture indicator changed / reversed over time. On the earlier lenses the index mark was located on the aperture ring (which could rotate) and the apertures were marked on the lens barrel. This is not how most Leitz lenses were / are engraved / marked. On the later (post 1957 IIRC) lenses the index mark was located on the lens barrel and the apertures were marked on the (rotatable) aperture ring. This is how we normally see Leitz / Leica lenses marked to this day.

With both types of the 50mm f1.5 Summarit, however, it should be noted that the maximum aperture was reached - in common with the vast majority of Leitz lenses - by turning the aperture ring fully to the right (as viewed from behind the camera).

By way of illustration here are early and '57 examples showing the positional change of index mark;

Early type (my own 1953 M-mount is like this) with index mark on aperture ring;

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Later (post 1957) type with index mark on lens barrel;

Hope this helps to explain matters!

Philip.

Tangential point but I've just noticed that the frontal section of the barrel on the '57 lens (as pictured here) doesn't have the same profile as that of the earlier lens which suggests that these later lenses couldn't be used with the bayonet-fit Summarit filters?...... ......

Hmmm. One for the Historic Boffins to clarify!

Edited October 10, 2023 by pippy

[Dbrass]

Just received my new Elcan 50mm f2. The focus ring is noisy when rotating backwards and forwards, it makes a tapping noise at the point when you change direction. It also feels slightly loose because of this. Listen to the video on loud. I have been advised by LLL that this is by design, when in production it was initially too tight causing scratching, so they loosened to avoid. Apparently it does not get worse over time. 

I have not experienced this with any other lenses from other brands. Can someone confirm if this is happening to their LLL lens?

 

 

Edited November 3, 2023 by Dbrass

[tsleica]

LLL has a 50% defect rate when leaving factory. This info comes directly from my dealer.

My LLL 50 is perfect.

Yours is clearly defective.

This is why you buy from a trusted dealer that can test your lens before shipping. It takes about 60 sec to make sure the lens is good to go.

I guess LLL doesnt have the time to do this. They are so busy...lol.

OK...

Never buy from LLL directly as its plainly not a great idea.

And...

Of course...they are lying to you.

I'll nick name them  here..just for fun...

..Lens...Lying...Lackeys...

That said..I have the 35 8E and the 50 Elcan..and I am perfectly happy w/them.

You just have to have them tested first..or be prepared for problems.

There are many issues w/this company right from the beginning..just do a search on the Rangefinder forum...there are about 100 pages on a single LLL thread devoted to all this.

Promises broken..defective lenses all over the place. Crazy stuff.

 

Edited November 4, 2023 by tsleica

[hdmesa]

5 hours ago, Dbrass said:

 

Just received my new Elcan 50mm f2. The focus ring is noisy when rotating backwards and forwards, it makes a tapping noise at the point when you change direction. It also feels slightly loose because of this. Listen to the video on loud. I have been advised by LLL that this is by design, when in production it was initially too tight causing scratching, so they loosened to avoid. Apparently it does not get worse over time. 

I have not experienced this with any other lenses from other brands. Can someone confirm if this is happening to their LLL lens?

Mine was not like that nor would I own a lens that did that.

Edited November 4, 2023 by hdmesa

[69xchange]

11 hours ago, Dbrass said:

 

Just received my new Elcan 50mm f2. The focus ring is noisy when rotating backwards and forwards, it makes a tapping noise at the point when you change direction. It also feels slightly loose because of this. Listen to the video on loud. I have been advised by LLL that this is by design, when in production it was initially too tight causing scratching, so they loosened to avoid. Apparently it does not get worse over time. 

I have not experienced this with any other lenses from other brands. Can someone confirm if this is happening to their LLL lens?

 

 

My elcan had stiffness when trying to microfocus 

[Infantasy]

On 11/4/2023 at 5:49 PM, 69xchange said:

My elcan had stiffness when trying to microfocus 

Mine also had a bit stiff when arrived. I use a very small paint brush to apply a thin layer of helicoid grease to the exposed a few turns of helicoid. After turn the focusing knob several time and left over a few days, my Elcan silk smooth now and even during microfocus. I use Helimax-XP grease which bought in eBay some years ago.

[Greenhilltony]

On 11/4/2023 at 6:44 AM, Dbrass said:

 

Just received my new Elcan 50mm f2. The focus ring is noisy when rotating backwards and forwards, it makes a tapping noise at the point when you change direction. It also feels slightly loose because of this. Listen to the video on loud. I have been advised by LLL that this is by design, when in production it was initially too tight causing scratching, so they loosened to avoid. Apparently it does not get worse over time. 

I have not experienced this with any other lenses from other brands. Can someone confirm if this is happening to their LLL lens?

 

 

The one I bought brand new, which was a very late number of the V2LC batch, had a heavy backfocusing issue, but no problems in exterior and handling. The focus ring of mine was smooth. As yours is the V3LC batch, their explanations make sense, but the loosening seems to be overdone.

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[Dbrass]

21 hours ago, Greenhilltony said:

The one I bought brand new, which was a very late number of the V2LC batch, had a heavy backfocusing issue, but no problems in exterior and handling. The focus ring of mine was smooth. As yours is the V3LC batch, their explanations make sense, but the loosening seems to be overdone.

decided it wasn't worth keeping, have returned for a refund used summicron it will be

[pedaes]

For anyone seriously interested have a look at Matt's article and you will find a discount code which may help a little.